#WHAT NO GOOD IS THIS SOLDEIR GIRL UP TO

[kingofattolia]

can I respectfully say what the HELL

[blueiight]

I was reading your tags to dre's published ask. Do you think while writing about these blood sucking monsters, Anne deliberately made one of them a former slave master? I mean the way this man during his mortal times had benefited by preying on the black race and the reflection of it in his fate where he is now in literal terms an entity who survives by preying on people? Or is it like twilight ( movies) where Jasper's past as a confederate soldeir is just dropped as if it's the most casual thing to shrug away.

( something is up with vampire media and all of them being connected to slave trade my god. Either it is a social commentary or people really do not have any self awarenesses?

i dont know about twilight book or movie to make a meaningful comparison to louis’s book counterpart. i wish i knew. and tbh, its hard to prescribe authorial intent on a dead woman who wrote a sprawling epic of 20+ books for 50 years , especially with shifting perspectives , namely pivoting away from louis to lestat as her MC bc of what fantasy/POV was more interesting to her. but i think in the first book there was some intention there, i cant just say how much. lestat wants to hunt the runaway slaves along the freniere plantation, and louis discourages him from doing it not out of compassion for enslaved people (which would be condescending and abysmal writing for a slaveowning character), but for his proximity to the freniere’s as fellow planters. ive talked about it a lot how its really interesting in the first 2 books that the american planter is created both literally + vampirically by the european aristocrat.. and theyre both parasitic beings in relation to the enslaved people, eventually draining them+ burning the plantation down. iwtv early book louis is resentful of lestat in part bc he thought lestat wanted his plantation, but when he learns who lestat is + where he came from, the power and will he has. hes far more genial to him. its a very dark book, and i think the fact that these characters are so vicious + melancholic is intentional on the authors part. i dont know how much race based chattel slavery is meaningfully explored from the perspective of the slaveowner, but book louis thinking of people in his captivity as fixtures, as creepy ‘things’ more proximate to the supernatural bc of their ‘african nature’ (that had yet to be ‘trained’ out of them) is a very probable, chilling, and haunting perspective of a former slaveowner to take even a hundred and some years removed from it. or if we take it as book louis immersing himself in his perspective @ the time. either way. and its pathetic when fans try to flatten book louis into ‘he was a good slaveowner’ cuz at that point theyre just conflating the movie with the book. i kinda joke that book louis is the vampire it girl bc he was such a terrible mortal LOL. im still indeterminate on the exact mode or purpose, or how much it was just about the aesthetic of gothic horror (re: the earth’s a savage garden). especially bc later books fixate on very discrete modes and metaphors of servitude/subjugation ‘being a slave to the blood’ is a recurring motif running antiparallel with the motif of ‘purifying the african/asian/foreign’ (through ‘admixture’ with the ‘european’) (s/o poacher bro gabi + talamasca bro dave ig) and in later works, theres the cycle of slavery through marius & armand.. marius, whos mother was a slave, purchases armand. chattel slavery took inspo from the romans in the idea of maternal based slave caste inheritance.. idk. idk. ive had very long rambly convos w ppl on here in the past (& im still a bit embarrased abt it) on this, but i think the reasons why fans dont rly get into it is cuz most ppl got into these books at a young age + was just into the cool lore or the queer shit and were able to handwave things as just aesthetic/era/quirky anne things etc. idk.

[buttercuparry]

What I find interesting about this fandom is how it often tut-tuts Arya for surviving. There's always this "oh look what she has turned into" and I have tried to sit back and understand what exactly does it mean by that? She is a girl on the run who has stripped herself of her name to survive and evade any Lannister allies. Now she is part of the common class and is experiencing the life of a common girl. And for a commoner living in a war torn westeros...it is not going to be aesthetically pleasing. The life around her is gritty and people are cruel. She has to adapt accordingly.

Also by that I don't mean that Arya has turned cruel. For some reason people expect "nice" to be kind. She doesn't coax Weasel with flowery words...she slaps the little girl and tries to drag her out of a burning shed. She doesn't beg the BWB to spare the lives of her friends. She stands between them and threatens Lem and others to move on. She is not going to curtsey the soldeirs and try to appeal to them with her delicate sensibilities...she is going to keep her head down and do all the back breaking work to avoid the risk of getting noticed and getting killed. She is not going to plead with Jaqen till he agrees to help her...she is going to trick him in order to save her people.

(Also she had no way of knowing that Roose's men would be just as cruel as the Lannisters'. It was an eye opening moment for her to be sure...there is no "good" side or bad side for the commoners....all of it is the same).

And yes she is willing to survive but that doesn't mean she is going out there and murdering people. Every one of the people she has killed is either out of self defense or because the people were generally horrible (I have some thoughts particularly about Dareon's death but that is another topic)

You can't expect a girl to fight off all these horrible situations without getting her hands sticky...

People are so obsessed with the superficial notion of purity and the aesthetic (TM) that they fail to see the genuine kindness of Arya. I wonder if they really think of Chiswyck's death as impure? If they think looking under rocks and digging up worms for sustenance is disguating? Or is it that Arya does not fit the aesthetic image of a high fantasy upper class heroine? Is it that there is no "romanticism" to be found in the mud, blood, gore and despair of a commoner?

[buckyshenley16]

The Tales Of The Winter Soldeir and Winter Witch

Book1, Chapter 1

3 Years before Bucky was drafted

February 5th, 1940

Ramona’s POV

Putting my stacks of paperwork on my desk ready for tomorrow as my work day comes to an end, I find myself sighing in relief after a long day of again getting nowhere with the ‘Jeweler Case.’ It seems to be a never-ending case as this is our second week trying to solve the jewelry store robbery and who did what and when, why, and so on.

“Lover boy is on the phone Ramona.” Peggy gloats with a smug grin on her face purposely making sure the speaker was not covered.

“Like I’ve told you almost a hundred times Carter, he is not my lover boy.” I exclaim emphasizing the word ‘not’ with an eye roll and taking the phone off her. “Why hello Buck, what would you be calling to ask the 3rd time today?” I ask with a slight chuckle whilst throwing a rubber at Peggy who is winking at me.

“Just checking before I leave to walk you home doll, did you bring a jacket today? It’s freezing outside and I can see your jacket still hung up, would hate for ya to catch a cold especially when you live with someone with an immune system like Steve.” Bucky says, his Brooklyn drawl being clearer than ever.

“You know, I do have more than one coat Buck?” I ask. “Just checking Mona, I didn’t walk you today so I didn’t see what you left in. Just seen what you woke up in or should I say what you didn’t wake up in.” Bucky asks with a hint of flirting and a hint of cockiness in his voice.

“Yes, and if you carry on with your Mr, big ego act that’ll be the last time you see that, Barnes.” I retort.

“Okay we both know that’s not the truth. Anyway, I’m bouta leave doll, will be there in half an hour, will wait in the usual spot.”

“Not true but okay, see you soon Buck” I say trying not to drop the phone from between my ear and shoulder whilst locking my cabinets. “See you soon, darlin'.” Bucky finishes before putting the phone down.

Bucky and I had known each other since being 6 and 9 being introduced by our friend Steve. Steve had been like a big brother growing up, Sarah being nothing but welcoming to my family when we fled to Brooklyn from Russia. Sarah and my mother would both take turns between childcare; me, my three younger sisters and brother being at the Rogers’ every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and half the day Sunday whilst mother would go to work at the laundry where Sarah also worked.

And obviously Steve would be at our house every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Every Sunday we would have dinner at the Rogers’ with our mother. Our father stayed in Russia with mother wanting to flee a situation I wasn’t told about until I was old enough to understand. Father was abusive and an alcoholic and had a job mother didn’t agree with, but we were never told what that job entailed and whilst I found myself wondering every so often, curiosity never killed the cat and I was enormously proud of that.

Bucky, Steve, and I were best friends growing up with Bucky and Steve being stupidly overprotective of me even when I became a fully trained agent and officially full time at SSR. My mother never 100% agreed with my job and whilst Bucky and Steve questioned it at first for my safety, but once they realised I could handle myself (after witnessing me defend myself against a couple of not so nice men who got a bit too close for my comfort) they were 100% supportive of my job, especially Bucky with one less person to save from the allies and one more person to help when Steve found himself on the not so nice ends of the alleys face first into the trash cans.

It was around 18 years old I'd started developing feelings for Bucky, not that I’d never admit it to him, I was far too proud and full of denial for that because he would never go for a girl like myself; at least that’s what I thought until I found myself intertwined in his sheets with his body wrapped around mine after one passionate, unexpected night a year later.

This went from happening every few weeks, to every two weeks, to maybe once a week to every few nights and I’m still in denial that he would ever want to make things official.

I question whether I want to become his girl, especially with my line of work and seeing my parent’s relationship be the bane of their lives when I was younger. All I’ve ever seen is relationships fail and that is why I refuse to put myself through the pain of one. I care about Bucky, he’s the one person who no matter how rotten the day be I’m guaranteed to have a smile on my face when I see him.

When Sarah died both mine and Bucky's families became close ensuring two big family units to support Steve and even a year and a half after she passed; me, Bucky and Steve got a shared apartment together. Sure, it was no five stars, but it was home and as long as the three of us had each other that was all that mattered. Steve was aware of mine and Bucky's “situation” but chose not to get involved.

Stuck in my own little world I'd not realised half an hour had passed and Bucky would be waiting for me so after grabbing my coat and bag I made sure to say bye to Peggy and arrange coffee and breakfast before work tomorrow morning where we could discuss some of the cases privately, seen as though we knew we were massively undermined at SSR we got a lot of thinking and solving done mostly when we were alone together where no male could underestimate or interrupt us.

Walking down out of the doors I spotted Bucky with a glowing grin on his face, it took everything to keep my footing steady. “Hello, beautiful. How would you feel about hot chocolate and dinner on me at our spot?” Bucky asked holding his arm out to me which I gladly took.

“Gee buck, almost sounds like you’re asking me on a date!” I tease earning a nudge to my side causing a fit of laughter.

“One day doll, I’ve already asked several times but one day I will get a yes out of ya.” Bucky retorted.

“I’ll hold you to that Buck, how was your day?” I asked clinging to his arm.

“The usual, woke up to a fine dame next to me, crappy coffee, got to work. Left work, pulled Steve out of an ally, nagged Steve how he’s not ten men and should think before he acts, walked the little punk back to the apartment, read the paper and now I'm here to pick up you. How bout you doll?” Bucky explains with a hint of sarcasm.

“Same old, really strugglin’ with this case I just can’t seem to understand how a whole jewelry store could be robbed without even a fingerprint left behind nor how someone could even get a hold of that damn gas. How many men was it today? Did you or Steve get hurt?” you ask with a sigh giving Bucky's arm a reassuring squeeze.

“Hey Mona, don’t worry too much about it, we both know you’ll get to the bottom of it like always and I’m sure whoever’s guilty will regret it when they have to face the bottom of your shoe. Two guys, managed to reason with them after giving one a right hook.” he winked.

“Oh, I know I will, thanks Buck I can always rely on you for some good old confidence boosting. I give up telling the jackass he’s gotta stop this, I may as well be talking to a brick wall!” I finish with a chuckle. As we walk into the bright, retro diner Bucky holds the door open for me before guiding us both to a booth. As we take our coats off a waitress comes to us.

“Well would ya look who it is, only our two favorites! Where’s Rogers tonight?” Our waitress Nancy asks.

“Probably at home bathing his black eye, sulking about his fight whilst planning his next one.” I exclaim earning a laugh from both Bucky and Nancy.

“I don’t even gotta ask, usual for you two?” Nancy asks pointing between us both with her pen.

“Of course!” Bucky says with a grin

“That’s two hot chocolates and a portion of fries coming up!” Nancy exclaims.

“Thanks, Nance!” we both call.

Me, Bucky and Steve have been coming to this diner since we were in school. Their hot chocolates were practically the glue to our friendships. As I looked up from my hands, I spotted Bucky looking at me with a smile on his face. “What’s got you all smiley?” I ask with a grin.

“Just you!” Bucky exclaims grin turning wider.

“Are you purposely trying to make me blush?” I ask with a chuckle feeling warmth go to my face praying my blusher somewhat cancels the blushing.

“Always doll, I just like to make ya blush and to know I’ve still got it.” Bucky explains with a cocky smirk. Damn you and your godly smile Barnes!

“Glad my embarrassment gives you an even bigger ego boost Buck!” I laugh before our food and drinks get set down and we start tucking in.

*An hour later, on the way home from diner*

“Thank you for that Buck, it was fun. Was nice to be sat anywhere but that office.” I explain.

“S’alright doll, anything to put a smile on your face. I wanted to actually talk to you. This, us been goin' on a little while too long now.” Bucky stopped walking and turned me to face him taking both my hands in his.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I ask feeling my heart rip into two.

“Yeah, doll.” he grins.

“Oh okay, no I totally get it Buck we’re kinda not going anywhere and I’m really not ready to put myself into a relationship right now and you wanna move on or you’ve already found a girl. I get it, no hard feelings.” I say holding back the tears.

“Woah doll, no no! You’re completely taking it the wrong way. Mona, I like you, scratch that I’m crazy bout you. I understand you don’t wanna take this further just yet, but I can wait,” he says cupping my face in his hands looking into my eyes.

“Buck, I appreciate that so much but there’s so many better girls throwing themselves at you and you’re going to waste them just to wait for me? I could make you wait years and I wouldn’t want that.” I explain placing my hands over his.

“I don’t want them other girls, I want you. You’re the most beautiful, loyal, caring, and bad ass girl I’ve ever met. I will wait as long as you want me to if it means I can have you. Just please tell me you feel the same.” he begs his eyes searching my face for any sign of feeling the same.

“I do Buck, I have for a while.” I admit a small smile making its way to my lips. Bucky gently strokes his thumb across my bottom lip before pulling me in for a sweet, loving kiss. It was suddenly like it was just the pair of us that existed, nobody mattering in that moment but us two. Bucky pulled away keeping his hands on my face, placing his forehead against mine. “I got you, doll” he says before pulling me into his chest resting his chin on my head, wrapping his arms around my shoulders tightly; sighing contently.

“I got you too, Buck.” I reply wrapping my arms around his waist and smiling contently to myself.

“Let’s get home to the punk before he can’t help but lead himself to another alley huh.” Bucky says whilst linking our arms together and directing us both out of the park.

“We should probably check the alleys on our way back Buck.” I suggest

“Glad we're on the same page doll.” Bucky chuckles.

So, It’s the first of many chapters🤩 I’m so so excited!! Just wanted to give a shout out to @i-write-bucky and @jbarness for proof reading this for me!! Angels🤩❤️

[curestardust]

if you want: generally like VOCALOID inspired anime / Mari Okada / cool character designs / more of a philosophical story

Black Rock Shooter was inspired by a VOCALOID song/video.

BRS only contains 8 episodes and for 6 of them, you have no idea what’s going on. We’re introduced to 2 worlds, the school life that Mato and her friends lead, animated as a completely normal anime, and the world of Black Rock Shooter with constant battles, which is CGI (resembling MMD which was probably on purpose). 

It’s obvious from the very beginning that the characters in BRS’s world are some sort of counterparts to the real life girls whom we follow around. There are hints here and there as to what their purpose is but we don’t get a clear answer until the end. 

From a story and characters perspective, the waters get muddy. This is quite a specific style of storytelling (which I hear is typical for the writer?). I’d call it a character drama with some mystery. The story keeps a lot of things hidden from the viewer which makes the behaviour of some of the characters just ????. Actually, going ???? is not unusual while watching this. The characters are interesting enough but after their “arc” is over it kinda feels like they get thrown to the side of the road until the ending. “Insanity”, I guess is what I’d call it, is used as kind of a plot device as well. It’s mostly that characters cannot deal with their negative emotions and trauma and thus “lose their minds”. I saw people complain about how unrealistic it is but as someone who’s had a mental breakdown before, ummm...yes it’s over-exaggerated a lot but some of it was spot on. 

The ending will probably be the thing that divides most people. In the end I didn’t feel close enough to the characters, neither was their relationships built up enough for me to care that much. However, the underlying themes of the show: that all colours, the pink of happiness, the blue of sadness, the red of rage and the black of despair, are all part of life and we shouldn’t try to throw any of them away. We must soldeir on and experience life for what it is. It’s sometimes bad and it’s sometimes good but we shouldn’t run away from reality. We must confront it, accept it and move on, hoping for a happier future.

I had some problems with the world BRS is in. There’s intense fighting which is entertaining to watch, yeah, but there are no rules set up for the world. And by that I don’t mean government regulations but that the same attack can either kill or just mildly inconvenience the person on the recieving end. That’s NOT good! If you just want action scenes with no thought put into it then it’s fine but due to this the fight scenes have no tension to them because you know who’s gonna win.

A few words on the technical side, the normal animation is really pretty and fluid. The animation of the fight scenes though feel really outdated (this was released in 2012). Still, they’re so chaotic and stylized that you won’t really need to worry about that.

Closing thought: REALLY liked the designs of the characters in the BRS world. That’s some great mecha magical girl-esque stuff right there.

[6/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

[apolla62200]

Promise

Summary: Bucky has always thought he was damned to never find his soulmate, Etkatrina always thought she was damned to walk the earth alone forever. Apart these two have had a cursed existence, but together maybe they came finally see how one word can mean such an unbreakable bond.

Warnings: none at the moment

A/N: This gets deep fast, trust me @lovelynemesis and please overlook spelling and grammar.

Chapter two:

The first thing Bucky's mind was able to comprehend was the intense pain centered in the back of his skull. Opening his eyes to see the sterile white walls of a lab, anxiety and years of instinct quickly allowed him to sit up and asses his surroundings, which was a fair feet given the amount of injuries he had sustained. The first thought to register in his mind was his chosen. 

He remebered falling to the ground with her in his arms, and then blackness. " Where is she?" he slurred into the silence knowing good and well someone was monitoring him. Bucky went to sit up and remove the IV's placed in the flesh arm and the wires connected to his metal prosthectic, but as he rose it felt like he had been punched in the chest. " Wow there manchurian candidate, slow it down. Your girls fine. You on the other hand are a little worse for wear." Tony said as he entered the lab. Figures, Starks the only one with the tech to pull this off.

 Bucky glared at Tony, expecting him to elaborate more on his chosens condition, but apparently that was expecting too much from the billionare. "How is she doing?" he asked hopeful she was in better shape than he was. Tony's face seemed to darken upon the question. "Depends on your defention of okay" Tony told him honestly. Bucky stiffened at the wording of tony's sentance, dread beggining to fill his mind. " Whats wrong with her?'' 

Tony stayed silent for a moment longer, which scared him more than anything given the person he was talking too. Tony took a deep breath before turning to face him fully. "Well, for starters, she's dead." That Stament sent Bucky's mind into overdrive. Forgeting all thoughts of his preivous pain he lunged for stark, unable to stop himself from slipping into the winter soldeir fecade he tried so hard to contain. Tony retreated out of Bucky's grasp, narrowly escaping the enraged soldier. 

" Wow Wow Wow, Calm yourself, she's okay." Tony said confusing Bucky enough to slow him down. Noticing this Tony took advantage of the situation.  " She's in the room a few doors down from here. I believe there may have been  some miscommunication." Tony said in a placid manor, still backing away from a fury fueled soldeir." Actually I believe the proper term would be undead."  This made Buck stop completly and furrow his brows in obvious confusion. Tony took a cautious step foward and sratched the back of his neck nervously.

" It'll be easier to show you than trying to explain it." he admitted honestly, still not fully understanding the womans situation himself. Unable to come out of soldier mode until he was given undenialable proff she was okay, he lifted himself up off the bed, careful to avoid stretching his torso, and nodded. Tony threw him a shirt and a pair of joggers he kept in the closet, then turned to give him a little privacy. It  took longer than expected to stretch the bleached cotton material over his body , but even the burns covering his upper torso and back would not deter him. Finished with changing he turned, his silent glare being enough modevate the billionare to hurry .Wasteing  no time, Tony lead Bucky to the room where the sleeping female lay. 

When they entered the soldiers eyes examined his chosen, soaking in the details he did not have time to take in the first time he laid eyes upon her. His took in the mixed shades of her hair. If he looked close enough he could make out a little bit of every hair color, from the warm chocolate, to the specks of vibrant dark tones of black, and the chestnut strandes that lay across her cheeks, all casscading into a mess of waves across the pillow under her head.  Her face had a soft tone to it, her cheeks rounded and the perfectly shaded, her nose so small it looked like a button. Her eyes, he remembered were this beuatiful shade of hazel, a swirling vortex  of green, blue, brown, and gold, with long thick black eyelashes that seemed to draw you in. He also remembered her skin being ice cold, the shade taking on the color of snow, and looking at it know it seemed to almost glisten in the light like frost. Her lips were full and looked as soft as velvet, coated with a familar shade of rose with subtle undertones of peach., but looking at her now he saw them, two small fangs laying across the tip of her bottom lip. 

His eyes narrowed at the mask that covered her mouth and nose that seemed to be emitting a gas like substance that was keeping her subdued. Noticing the look the soldier was giving it, Tony stepped in to explain. " We couldn't penatrate her skin with any needle we had, they kept breaking. We think they used some kind of chemical agent bonded with her venom, to penatrate her skin." The soldiers eyes immdeatly went to the dots that were scattered on her arm, and he turned to Tony. Realizing his silent implication, Tony was quick to correct the soldier. " We didn't try anything beyond simple IV's. I just had Bruce swab some of her newer injection sights so we could get a little insight on how her body would react to certain things. We mixed a Class-B antisthetic with some of her venom and vaptorized it so her body could absorb it. When she woke up she went into a frenzy. From the looks of it she hasn't fed in a while." 

Tony couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. Turning to Bucky, he apoligized. " I'm sorry, It's just well, you expect this kinda stuff to be myths and fantasy, and then here she is laying right before us. I shouldn't be surprised really, not to long  ago I wouldn't have believed aliens were real, and then New York happened." Tony reasoned. Seeing that she was okay and that she was within his reach, the soldier mindset began to fade and slowly he became Bucky again. Sighing he asked tony. " When can she wake up again?" Tony looked at him for a moment, before carefully choosing each word. "We can't allow her to wake up until we can assure she can control herself. Like I said earlier, when we first returned she went into a frenzy. Her hunger has the best of her right now." 

Bucky looked at his chosen, and gently reached out to grasp her hand. " She can drink from me" Bucky offered. " I don't think so capsicle number two. We can't risk her drinking you dry. We don't know her level of control after not being fed this long." Tony said leveling the amount of gas flowing in the tubes with the tech by her bedside. " But me and bruce have a plan. We think that we can use this machine here to vaporize the blood, and let it get aborbed into her system. Just until She can feed without losing control, the only problem is the blood has to be fresh, from what I've read dead mans blood will do more harm than good.( A shout out to the one who can name this refrence) Thats why waited until you woke up. We wanted to ask you about it before we did anything. We know how important she is to you." Tony explained, watching Bucky as he looked lovingly at his chosen." Okay" Bucky agreed, looking to Tony. He hated seeing his chosen like this. He realized in that moment he didn't even know her name. That would be the first thing he would ask her when she was awake, he resolved stroking  the backside of her hand with his thumb.       

   To say he was upset was an understament. Right after he had agrred Tony called Bruce and kicked him out of the room., locking the door effectivily putting space between him and her. It hurt him for some reason, the space between them. He felt fine only moments ago when he had been holding her hand, but now all he could think of were all the ways this could go wrong. This was when Winter saw fit to make his opinon about the situation known. "She could attack them upon awakening and go into a frenzy." Winter reasoned with his logic.  " No she's better than that"  Bucky aruged with Winters instincts, trying to find a common ground, that would appease them both " Not if she doesnt have any control."  Winter reasoned  " They weren't feeding her, her first instinct is going to be to  jump the first thing she sees with a pulse." Bucky stopped seeing the logic in Winters words." Your only seeing the negative in this situation." he countered tryng to gain a more solid footing in this argument. " And your only seeing what you want to see James,  Just because she's your chosen doesnt mean she isn't dangerous to you, more so than I have ever been." He growled at Winter, lashing out at his other half

 " You don't know what your talking about, besides even if she is as dangerous as you say, Why did you come out when I thought she was gone"  .Sneering at the possiblity his emotions got the better of him, Winter calmly rationalized, " Your grief had momentarly stunned you, I took it upon myself to do what you would have had you been capable and acted accordingly, besides despite your common believe I am apart of you James, that makes her my chosen as well." Frozen at Winter revalation, he sat htere in silence for a moment, allowing winter to speak again." All I'm saying is the moment she wakes up she's going to do what any caged animal does and go by her instincts." Unable to prove him wrong bucky simpled ended the argument with " She's better than that, your wrong." 

The footsteps beside him came to a stop and a hand laid itself upon his shoulder.  " Whose wrong Buck? " Steve asked jarring him out of his head. " It's nothing Steve" he said brushing off his pals concern.  Steve furrowed his brow and took in the state of his friend, well more like brother. " It's happening again isn't it, your talking with him." Steve only wanted to help his friend, but trying to get bucky to admit he needed help was a task eaiser said than done. " I said I'm fine Steve. Let it go." Bucky said affecivly ending that conversation. It was the suddenly crash that caught both thier attention.       

 " Friday, what's going on in there, let me in." Bucky all but shouted rushing to the door when They heard bruce yell something at Tony. " I'm sorry Sergent Barnes, but Mr. Stark has ordered no one enter the room until he gives the all clear. I can however tell you the proceejure has endured an unexpected complication." Panic seizing him, he banged on the door wanting to be let in.  " What's happening Friday"  Steve asked trying to get Bucky to move away from the door. It took a minute for the A.I.'s responce. " The woman on the table seemed to have a negtive responce to the venom infused blood vapor. Mr. stark thought since that was how he had to administor the anasthedic that would also be how he got the blood into her sytem. However after a fail attempt,  Dr. Banner suggested just vaporizing the blood and letting her take it in that way. Her body has stablized as much as it can with her immune system. Which is virtually nonexistant along with most human body funtions, we are unable to estimate time of recovery, given the lack of data on the subject but Mr. Stark assures she will heal at an more acceled rate than a normal human, ten times faster than you or Sergent Barnes, Captain Rodgers."

 It wasn't too long after that the the doors to the med lab were opened to reveal a blood speckled Bruce, and a sheet white Tony. " She's awake" was all he said.

Etkatrina watched silently as two men entered the room. One she reconized immeditaly as Captain Amercia, or less commonly know Steven Grant Rodgers.( Just Steve really) The second she reconized only by the way her body reacted to his presence. It was a strong pull to be near him, to want all his attention, and to feel him hold her in his arms. This man was her chosen. She studied him closely, from the long brown hair that covered his face to the deep pits of ceurelan blue that were his eyes, to the bright shine of the vibrainium arm that attached at his shoulder. In less than three seconds she had been in his presence, and it felt like she had known him all her life. She looked down at her wrist and very softly traced her mark. " I've waited a long time to meet you, Your just as beuatiful as I always imagined " He said coming to kneel beside her bed. Silence engulfed the pair, and Etaktrina wanted to hear him speak again.          

 " Twenty says I've got you beat on the waiting part." She laughed trying to joke with him, wanting to hear his laugh. He chuckled at her attempt. " About eighty years" She smirked at him and challanged " Try two hundred". Her chosen returned her smirk and confidently replied with " You don't look a day over twenty doll." She giggled at him and retorted "Smooth". Steve came into the conversation then remarking " You should have seen him in the fourties, always such a charmer." Her brows furrowed at the thought of her chosen flirting with other women, and a small but fural grow slipped past her lips unintentionally. " Nothing serious doll"

 Her chosen told her grasping her hand and tracing her mark as if to say " promise ".She relished the first human contact she'd had in years that hadn't had harmful intent behind it. She watched him look over her face eyes stopping at the point where her fangs met her bottom lip. She looked away embaressed at what she was, that was until she felt him slip his fingers underneath her chin and turn her head towards him. " Don't be that way" he whispered softly only for her to hear. " How can you aceept me, I'm a monster, The thing parents tell thier children about at night." Her chosen simply softly smiled at her with a hidden pain in his eyes and cupped the side of her face. "We all have our pasts and in a way we're all monsters,  but you know when a monster isn't a monster anymore" He asked with glazed eyes, like he wasn't talking just about her. She knew the qoute fondly so she leaned into his touch and barly whispered " When someone loves it." He smiled at her expression. 

Eyes closd and lips barly parted head leaned agaist his palm. This was a position of trust, and she trusted him whole heartedly. " Exactly and your my chosen, you know what that means" he asked her in a faint whisper. " It means I'll love you uncondtionally; past and flaws included, and hope you'll do the same in return because I believe we were put together for a reason. I don't know what reason that is just yet, but I'm willing to take the time and find out"  He said rising to his feet and kissing her forhead, his lips ghosting her skin like a brush of wind. She sat stunned at his next words. They struck her hard, and even though her heart no longer beat she could swear it was pounding agaist her chest right now. 

" ya budu vashim zashchitnikom, vashim drugum, i lyubouniko. ya budu use chto nuzhno chtoby ya."( i will be you protector, your friend and your lover.whatever you need)  They were in her birth tounge. he spoke it clearly and with so much emotion, she would have been in tears, had she been capable of producing them. " spasibo"(thank you)  She whispered to him. " Don't thank me, I mean it I will be whatever you need me to be. ya zde`s moya malen`kiy kotenok"( im here my little kitten)  she stuck her tounge out at him for the nickname, but was otherwised touched by the statment. 

" kakiye vy zovut"( whats your name)  He asked her. " menya  zovut Etkatrina Analesia Morazovya." ( my name is...) She told him. " I ty' ( and you)he asked wanting to hear the name of her chosen as bad as he did. He smiled at her. He seemed to do that a lot around her, but she didn't mind. " menya zovut James Buchanan Barnes ". She heard Steve groan once he had hear James tell her his name. " Why didn't you tell her your nickname, Buck. You hate your name." Steve whined. She furrowed her brows and rather confidently said. " He has a wondeful name, and I will adress him by such. " Steve stood frozen for a moment before his mannars kicked in. 

" No ma'am I just ment growing up he... he hated the name James so we always called him bucky." Steve stuttered turning the brightest shades of pink. James laughed at his brothers embarassment, and smiled proudly at the amount of sass his girl packed in her. " Doll if you want to call me James, call me James, if you want to call me Bucky, call me Bucky. It don't matter to me as long as your right here beside me." Realizing how she must've sounded she quickly backstracked. " I'm sorry Steve It's just..." It was steves turn to smile." Nah, Don't apolagize Kat We all have our prefrences" She rose her brow at the new nickname and smiled. 

" Kat I like it, but I prefer Katzya over kat keeps the russian tone to it "  She said then turned to James. " Let me guess, that my new nickname" His smirk became a full blow grin and he laughed at her tone. " malen`kiy kotenok it suits you" he whispered to her.  then  turned to steve and upon remembering he didn't understand russian,  laughed at the confused expression on Steves face.   " It means little kitten" answering his brothers unspoken question. Steve cheeks turned pink again causing all of them to laugh together. It was the first time in two centries Katzya had been this happy, but she knew all good things had to come to an end.

[buttercuparry]

RANT

I frankly don't know what I am doing by posting this but yeah I had to bc I read a post just now in the Arya tag that made me want to bang my head on the nearest wall. As I am not ready to start a wank, I am making a post of my own.

1. ' In A Game of Thrones, Arya thinks, “It wasn’t fair. Sansa had everything. Sansa was two years older; by the time Arya been born, there have been nothing left. Often it felt that way. Sansa could see and dance and sing. She wrote poetry. She knew how to dress. She played the high harp and the bells. Worse, she was beautiful…It hurt that the one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse.” She leaves to go join her brothers. This demonstrates that Arya is biased against stereotypical lady-like things, not because they’re useless (as we modern readers like to think) but because she isn’t good at them. This also demonstrates her jealousy towards Sansa, who takes after their mother and is a traditional southern beauty. '

That people think a nine year old girl (who feels insecure because she is constantly seen as a disappointment by her mother, sister and Septa),is biased against " stereotypical lady like things" just because she dares to express her frustrations is frankly unbelievable. Also I am not so sure about the jealous part but yes one thing is true: Arya is insecure. Because firstly it is Sansa and Jeyne Poole who have constantly made her feel ugly by their bullying. And Septa Mordane and her mother never stop comparing her inability of being a proper lady to that of Sansa's accomplishments.

2. ' So when the king’s entourage rolls up with all of their southern finery, Arya associates them with all the things she is bad at in life and holds it against them. Cersei is a beautiful southern queen with her soft summer silks and Joffrey is the prince who keeps Jon Snow away from their table. Arya dislikes them before she actually witnesses them doing anything questionable. Are they terrible human beings? Yeah, sure. But Arya had predetermined that she dislikes them first, and then just happened to be right. That doesn’t make her wise or show that she “sees things like they are.” '

Uh how...about NO! Arya never dislikes Cersei from the go. She even tells Jon that 'a woman is important too', when he makes fun of the display of Lannister banners along with the Baratheon banners. And in the same scene we see what a dick Joffrey is being to Robb at the training yard. So that's pretty self explanatory. Also when does Arya say she dislikes Joffey bc it makes Jon sit away from the table? I am sorry I just don't remember it. Arya truly starts disliking him after the Trident incident and Queen Cersei after she orders Lady to be executed. Which brings me to my next rant.

3. ' Further proof of this lies in the incident with Mycah, Joffrey, and Sansa at the Trident. Sansa and Joffrey interrupt Arya and Mycah play fighting and Sansa is horrified and embarrassed at her sister’s behavior (whether from the dirty leathers she is wearing or her company is never stated, though possibly both). When Joffrey begins to get cruel and challenges Mycah, the butcher’s boy responds, “She ast me to, m’lord…she ast me to.”

Arya is (whether she likes it or not) a lady, and Mycah is a commoner. Mycah is a commoner who was hitting a lady with a stick. If Arya actually understood the world she was living in, she would also understand how dangerous this situation is for Mycah. There’s the implication in his line “she ast me to,” that Mycah knew better. He knew it was a bad idea and Arya either a) didn’t know or b) didn’t care. Given that Arya does have a kind heart and values Mycah as a friend, it’s safe to conclude that she didn’t recognize the danger she was putting him in with her request. If she truly saw the world as it really is, she wouldn’t have made the request. '

Okay I admit here that Arya has had no idea how horrifying the whole Trident thing would turn out to be. Because how can she? When at Winterfell she has never let the diversity of class hinder her from reaching out and making friends. But the funny thing is how at the Trident, this ' danger ' the OP talks about only comes after Joffrey witnesses Arya and Mycah playing with sticks. I think if Bran would have switched place with Joffrey and Mrycella with Arya, Mycah would have still been alive. I don't think that Arya's friendship cost Mycah his life. The blame lays on Joffrey, no matter how much people try to shift the blame on Arya.

4. ' When it comes to class relationships, Sansa seems to have a better understanding of their society. For example, her acute awareness of Jon Snow’s bastard status and how that may cause jealousy of Joffrey. That comes from an understanding, at least in some level, of how their society works? Does it make her elitist? Sure, if you want to label an 11 year old an elitist. Does that also indicate that she understands the social class system of her time? Yes. '

Funny how a 11 year old can't be called an elitist but a nine year old is "biased against stereotypical lady-like things " which to tell it in a straight forward manner is basically calling the then nine year old Arya a kind of misogynist. Also Jon is not jealous of Joffrey. He is jealous of Robb. I can say a lot about what exactly makes Sansa comment as such but I know that if I do then my inbox will flood with hate mail in no time.

5. ' So how did a Sansa Quora question send me down this very Arya-related rabbit hole? Because people often bash Sansa by comparing her to Arya because they believe Arya to be less naive and therefore cooler. To a modern audience, we find Arya exceptionally likable because she reflects our own ideals. Sansa is a reflection of more medieval ideals that we find to be outdated. I’m not saying that Sansa is not naive, she is. I’m simply saying that Arya is too. Both Stark sisters are naive and they both suffer for it. It’s just that as a modern audience, we find Arya’s naivety to be more palatable because it matches ours. '

Yes I agree that both the Stark sisters have been naive. And it is wrong to say that only Sansa has this fault but Arya's naivete has nothing to do with all the things that the OP mentions in her post. Arya is naive bc she things her father has all the power of making things right. That her household guards could have protected Mycah. That northern soldeirs are the good guys and they would never harm the small folk. That the Knights are always honourable and thus will protect the women and children. That if the Hound would have wished then he could have saved her mother. Her naivete beliefs are as medieval as Sansa's. Also we like Arya not because she is 'cooler'. Arya is so much more than that. She is not perfect. I do admit that she has her faults but if people are now trying to find fault in Arya for being a bit free thinking and a bit ahead of her time, then I have nothing to say to them.